University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

July 7, 2006

Ag producers share their successes at national SARE conference

For more than a year, Jamie Derr, a Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, grain farmer, has been perfecting his home-brewed biodiesel system – one part restaurant grease, one part crushed oilseeds and a large shot of farmer ingenuity. The bio-based fuel, the product of Derr’s experimentation and interest in alternative energy, powers the tractors that harvest corn, soybeans, wheat and small grains on his 400 acres.

“There are all sorts of reasons to do this,” Derr says, “but it comes down to supply and demand. Biofuels will give us assurance of time and energy. We need to diversify our energy supply, and we need to diversify in a hurry.”

Derr will describe his home-brewed biofuel as one of more than 20 farmers and agricultural experts to speak at the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) national conference, slated for August 15-17 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. “A Midwest Homecoming: Sharing a New Tradition of Sustainability” is SARE’s fifth national conference celebrating an agriculture that is profitable, environmentally sound, and good for people and communities.

This year’s conference is being sponsored by the North Central Region SARE program which is hosted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Individuals may register for the conference by visiting www.sare2006.org.

Conference registrants can hear respected keynote speakers, learn from more than 30 educational sessions, visit thriving agricultural businesses during regional tours and enjoy heavy doses of evening fun. Program topics will include innovative livestock systems; sustainable crop production; renewable energy; direct-market successes; and maintaining diversity in agriculture.

Speakers hail from Hawaii to New England , but most will reside in SARE’s North Central region. What they all share are their voices of experience.

For more information about SARE programs and resources in the North Central Region, including Nebraska, visit the NCR SARE Web site at http://www.sare.org/ncrsare/.

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Copyright 2006 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. All rights reserved.
Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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